Thread: Does the TSA violate the Constitution?

Simple question... Does the TSA violate the Constitution, in particular the Fourth Amendment?

Originally Posted by newpublius

The short answer is 'no' - the Federal government is clearly empowered to run the program under its commerce and defense powers. The Fourth Amendment? As applied in limited situations, yes....generally, no, the IV Amendment prohibits UNREASONABLE search or seizure.

If they didn't screen the passengers would you get on a plane?

That being said, I still think its overkill. The terrorists, without implying a centralized cohesive decision making process, had set the precedent that the hijacking would end up in a place like Havana, not slamming into a building. Secondly, we're still talking about boxcutters here, the general security at the time didn't let in guns or explosives or things that are designed, in and of themselves, to be weapons.

All that needed to be done was to keep them out of the cockpit. If you do that, they can slice and dice the passengers to death (not pleasant of course), but not slam the building into the WTC....to a certain extent I think our response was disproportionate based on on the severity of the actual consequences.

Simply put planes in the future need to be designed to ensure that access from the passenger compartment to the cockpit is simply such an improbable event that even if it were possible, the plane would have sufficient time to land.

FEDERALIZING airport security? Overkill, but still constitutional.

Not constitutional if they are conducting random searches and patdowns. There is no "reasonable" or "probable cause" for that.... Unconstitutional.

Check out this thread: random searches by the TSA
Unconstitutional

Originally Posted by newpublius

Well, buy a ticket, bring your bags, object to the search and tell them that you have a reasonable expectation of privacy. When they tell you not to get on the plane, bring a lawsuit for a million dollars, let me know how it turns out. If they DO let you on the plane, let me know, I'll never get on another one.

When I have the cash to hire a Johnny Cochran, I'll be glad to.

Yes.

First off, the presumption that citizens lose their Second Amendment freedoms when they buy an airplane ticket is false.

Hence efforts by the TSA to infringe on the people's right to bear arms on aircraft are unconstituitonal.

Then there's the fact that random strip searches, radiographic imaging, electromagnetic searches, and invasive physical searches violate the Fourth Amendment. Attempting to travel between cities does not in anyway present a reasonable grounds of suspicion to make these practices consistent with the Fourth.

When has it become constitutional for the government to demand a person's papers before allowing them to move about the country?

I am more afraid of our governments ability to strip my freedoms Than I will ever be of some terrorists trying to avenge their people.

How many flights have been hijacked in the US? Enough to strip one of our most important rights...? I will never fly again..